Why Organic Food?

100% Organic – Eat food Grown as Nature Intended

We’re passionate about organic practices and have been from the day we baked our first loaf!

Paraoa Bakehouse – the home of Purebread – and many of our products are certified organic by Bio-Gro, an internationally recognised standard. We’re very proud to say our organic breads and cereals are made with the best organic grains, which are 100% free from pesticides. In fact, we are the only BioGro Certified baker that uses organically produced natural wheat in bread.

All our breads are made using bulk fermentation or natural cultures. This traditional baking technique helps our bodies to extract the best possible nutrition from the organic grains and other ingredients, providing great tasting and healthier food for everyone.

Organic certification also means that all the ingredients we source for our organic range come from organically-certified farms, most of them here in New Zealand. The ingredients, whether they are grains such as wheat or fruit like raisins, are grown naturally without the routine use of fungicides, herbicides and insecticides.

Being certified organic also means we do not use synthetic additives like stabilisers, emulsifiers, antioxidants, preservatives, colours or flavour enhancers in any of our products. The use of GE ingredients is absolutely banned under organic standards.

When we’re sourcing ingredients internationally, we make sure that everything is certified to an equivalent organic standard to BioGro.

We leave nothing to chance when it comes to ensuring we adhere to our organic principles!

Reduce the Pesticide Intake in Your Body Every Single Day

Robert Glensor’s 6 healthy reasons to go organic

One

It’s better for the environment.

Did you know that over 3000 tons of pesticides, including insecticides, herbicides and fungicides are used in New Zealand every year? Intensive use of chemicals and sprays can seriously deplete the health of the soil and affect local waterways. Farming is based around healthy soil. Rich, healthy soil has all the natural nutrients to great strong healthy crops. There are lots of great natural organic fertilizers (like seaweed tea) and a hearty organic compost will make all the difference – you just don’t need the chemical stuff!

Two

It’s better for wildlife.

Intensive use of chemicals can also have a negative impact on good bugs and biodiversity on a farm – all essential to create a natural healthy environment. Organic farming encourages biodiversity and wildlife.

Three

It’s better for the animals.

If you eat meat, cheese or eggs, or drink milk and that’s most of us. Organic means the animals have been reared and cared for with the strictest animal welfare standards. They’re also fed with organic feed, so if they are organic cows, the farm must also be certified organic and use no sprays on the grass. Organic farmers will often plant a diverse range of nourishing plants on pastures, which keeps the animals super healthy. If the animals eat more than grass, no growth hormones or antibiotics can be used in their food. There’s also strictly no GE in their feed – thank goodness! They also have lots of room to roam around and forage and enjoy a free-range lifestyle.

Four

It’s better for you.

Eat food grown as nature intended. Did you know organic and heirloom tomatoes have been found to have higher levels of antioxidants than tomatoes grown with sprays and fertilisers. This is because organic plants had to build up their own immunity to pests and disease and therefore grew stronger and healthier…a quality that is directly passed on to the people eating them.

Five

A GE free diet.

Paraoa Bakehouse has Zero tolerance to the use of genetically modified ingredients.

To all our valued customers,

We as Paraoa Bakehouse Ltd. are happy to inform you of our policy on genetically engineered food and ingredients. We produce certified organic products, most of which proudly display the Bio-Gro certification logo.

Bio-Gro New Zealand clearly oppose the use of any genetically engineered or modified ingredients, and we strictly adhere to this standard by way of requiring GE Free declarations from all of our suppliers.

Even our products which do not display the Bio-Gro logo, are often produced with the same ingredients and still maintain our standard of zero tolerance of GE ingredients.

We believe this policy to be of the up most importance and trust that this is of value to you,GE FREE Statement towards a sustainable organic industry and totally safe food.

We are always working with our suppliers to maintain this standard to ensure our products remain GE FREE.

Robert W GlensorManaging Director – Paraoa Bakehouse Ltd.

Six

Chemical-free diet.

Pesticides and other chemicals may be sprayed on food when they’re being grown, but residues remain in the food we eat. In the NZ Dirty Dozen list of foods containing the highest pesticide residues, compiled by the Safe Food Campaign bread and all products containing wheat have consistently high levels of pesticides. Many of these pesticides are potential carcinogens and suspected endocrine disruptors, and that makes young children and pregnant mothers particularly susceptible. For more information on pesticides in New Zealand, click here. Choosing organic, means you will be significantly reducing the pesticide intake on your body.

bread, wheat Gluten-free
So when you choose organic you’re not only caring for the environment, protecting wildlife and improving animal welfare standards – it’s better for you too! The best way to illustrate it is to get yourself along to an organic farm and see for yourself.

Pesticides in your daily bread

Bread is an important part of our culture and of many cultures with a long history of use. Wheat, the main ingredient in bread, has many valuable nutrients. But just how good for us is the bread we eat nowadays?

What pesticides are in non-organic bread and what types of bread are there?
Why should we reduce the amount of white bread we eat?

The Dirty Dozen

Purebread is completely pesticide-free… it’s what’s not in it that makes it great!

Did you know 232 non-organic bread and wheat products were tested in NZ and a staggering 79.3% contained up to 23 different pesticides? (www.safefood.org.nz)

The grains, oils and honey we use are grown on certified organic farms that utilise sustainable farming practices ensuring Purebread is FREE from pesticides and artificial chemicals so it won’t harm you or the environment.

The Safefood team have written an article called the Dirty Dozen which tells you:

Which foods in New Zealand are more likely to have pesticide residues?

What’s wrong with pesticide residues in food?

How can pesticide residues in food be reduced?

Which foods have the most pesticide residues?

Grapes, celery, a range of fruit, pak or bok choi, spring onions, cucumber and bread are all ranked in the top dozen of foods available in New Zealand which are more likely to contain pesticide residues. Close contenders behind this ‘dirty dozen’ are apples, spinach, olive oil, muesli and tomatoes.

Compared to the last dirty dozen in 2009, there are a number of foods included which have not been analysed before and a number excluded simply because we rely on data produced by the Ministry of Primary Industries.